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	<title>Open a document with a specified encoding in CotEditor on Mac</title>
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<h1>Open a document with a specified encoding in CotEditor on Mac</h1>

<p>You can open a document by interpreting it with a specified text encoding. This is useful when a document doesn’t appear correctly or appears garbled.</p>


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<h2>Specify the encoding when opening a document</h2>

<ol>
	<li><p>Go to the CotEditor app <img class="appicon" srcset="../../Shared/gfx/icon_32x32@2x.png 2x" alt=""/> on your Mac.</p></li>
	<li><p>Choose File &gt; Open.</p></li>
	<li><p>Select the document you want to open.</p></li>
	<li><p>From the Text Encoding pop-up menu, select the encoding you want to use.</p></li>
	<li><p>Click Open.</p></li>
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<p>The default setting is Automatic. When Automatic is selected, CotEditor examines the document’s content and the text encoding priority list, then automatically chooses the most appropriate encoding. For more information about encoding priorities, see <a href="howto_customize_encoding_order.html">Change the priority of text encodings</a>.</p>

<p>If you open a document by dragging it to the CotEditor application icon, CotEditor uses an automatically detected encoding. If you need to open a document with a specific encoding, use the Open dialog.</p>
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<h2>Reinterpret a document using a different encoding</h2>

<p>If a document doesn’t appear correctly, you may be able to fix the issue by reinterpreting it using a different encoding.</p>

<p>To reinterpret an open document using another encoding, do the following:</p>

<ol>
	<li><p>In the CotEditor app <img class="appicon" srcset="../../Shared/gfx/icon_32x32@2x.png 2x" alt=""/> on your Mac, open a document.</p></li>
	<li><p>Click the Text Encoding button in the status bar, or choose Format &gt; Text Encoding.</p></li>
	<li><p>From the list, select the encoding you want to use.</p></li>
	<li><p>In the “Text encoding change” dialog that appears, click Reinterpret.</p></li>
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<p>When reinterpreting a document using a different encoding, note that any unsaved changes are lost. To preserve the content, save a copy beforehand.</p>
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<h2>If you don’t see the encoding you want in the Text Encoding menu</h2>

<p>If you don’t see the encoding you want in the Text Encoding menu, you may be able to customize the list and add the encoding you need.</p>
<p>The encodings that appear in the Text Encoding menu can be changed in <a href="settings_format.html">Format settings</a> under “Encoding priorities.” For more information, see <a href="howto_customize_encoding_order.html">Change the priority of text encodings</a>.</p>
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<h2>See also</h2>
<ul>
	<li><a href="faq_cannot_display.html">If a document appears garbled in CotEditor on Mac</a></li>
	<li><a href="howto_inspect_usedchar.html">Find characters incompatible with the document encoding in CotEditor on Mac</a></li>
	<li><a href="howto_customize_encoding_order.html">Change priorities of text encodings in CotEditor on Mac</a></li>
	<li><a href="howto_open_document.html">Create or open documents in CotEditor on Mac</a></li>
</ul>
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